Australia's first mission crew for the Boeing 737-based Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system aircraft has completed its training, following a seven-month course.

The first intake of eight Royal Australian Air Force students received their training with support from eight instructors and three role-players from Boeing. They underwent 1,200h of training on the aircraft's battle management mission systems.

"Boeing Defence Australia is responsible for training the students in non-tactical areas across all aircraft mission systems, including datalinks, communications systems and the multi-role electronically scanned array radar, to ensure they graduate with the necessary skills," says Todd Barker, the company's Wedgetail AEW&C mission crew lead instructor and course director.